Children are notoriously reluctant to wash their hands to standards of cleanliness acceptable to most adults. As a consequence, many parents resort to coercion, bribery, and the like to assure that their children will clean their hands before eating or upon entering the house after outdoor activities. The frustrating confrontations which often result from these conflicting attitudes on hand cleanliness can be avoided if the process of washing hands is changed from an odious and forced task to something children regard as pleasurable or fun.
One way of achieving this desired change of attitude is through use of a handwashing device which children will think of as a toy, and which they will want to use without parental prodding.
In this context, a handwashing device should satisfy certain desiderata in order to be accepted by both parent and child. Parental concern is centered around such factors as safety, cost, and convenience, whereas the child is only concerned with the availability of the device and the fact that it is fun to use.
First, and foremostly, the handwasher must be absolutely safe to use. It cannot have any foreseeable potential for harming its user. This requires that the device not use electricity in any manner whatsoever. It also means that the handwasher should have a safeguard against inadvertent use of scalding water.
The handwasher should be relatively inexpensive. Its initial cost should not be high. It should have a long service-life with minimal need for repair. This implies that the handwasher be of simple rugged construction without failure-prone components such as gears and the like.
Installation and removal of the handwasher should not call for special expertness or require complicated or time-consuming effort. After initial installation, the handwasher should not require parental intervention or close supervision for its continued use. It should be compatible with the routine of normal household operation. This requires that the handwasher be readily installable and removeable at or adjacent a kitchen or lavoratory sink without any need for special plumbing. Once installed, it should present no significant inconvenience to the normal use of these facilities. Ideally, the handwasher should be of a nature such that it can remain in position for use at all times, or be quickly removed and replaced as desired without use of tools.